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momwise
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If you use any software or your Word programs for lesson planning, would you mind posting how you do it? I've been using the teacher lesson plan books for 12 years now and I'd really like to transition to the computer this year.
Some of the things I'd like to do:
Cut and paste library books from the board and e-mail into the planner
Duplicate weekly tasks automatically (like Dictation every Monday).
Put final touches on everything Fri. or Sat. night and have printouts for each child Mon. morning
Insert URL's for a particular lesson into the plans
Insert colors for feasts and liturgical seasons along with a prayer, Mass collect, etc.
Do you already use anything that you could tell me about?
Thanks!
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Gwen...wife for 30 years, mom of 7, grandma of 3.....
"If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life." JPII
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amiefriedl
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| Posted: June 13 2005 at 9:38pm | IP Logged
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I have been tinkering with the Homeschool Minder from Hunter Systems. It isn't my dream system but it isn't bad either. My verdict is really still out. I don't start lesson planning/recording hours on a formal basis until this coming school year. But if you had not heard of it, I thought I'd mention it.
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In Christ the King through Mary our Mother,
Amie
Blessed with an awesome hubby and Mom of ds10, dd7, dd3 and dd 10months.
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Becky Parker
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I am looking for the same advice. I have tried a few things using just Word but am not satisfied. I also am currently trying the Homeschool Minder that I got free for joining HSLD. It's okay but seems like an aweful lot of work to get everything loaded into it. My dream is to find something like the Catholic Woman's Planner for the computer with space for lesson plans!!!
Becky
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cathhomeschool
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Gwen, I've been thinking about your question, but wonder if my method would be helpful or more work than it's worth...
I do use the computer for lesson planning/weekly school sheets. I print them out in Word, and usually just modify and old file and re-save it under a new name when I start a new unit. Each child gets one page. I used to individualize the sheets, but now I just print the same one for everyone and just list each child's name/task for subjects (like math) that they don't do together.
The top half of the page is a grid (table in Word) divided into Days of Week across top and subjects down side. These are things that need to get done every day, and often don't change. (Ex. Spanish almost always says "Read w/ brother" on MWF and "Lesson w/ Mom" on TR.) Math changes, so I have to manually edit each square there.
The bottom half of each page focuses on our current unit study (usually FIAR or FIAR style). So I simply have a list of subjects with specific items listed under each. The boys check them off as we go through the week. I do not use a grid here or assign days, because I never know how much of this will get covered. I posted an example of this section here.
I used to use the grid system for the entire page. I'm sure that there's a way to make a template in Word that maybe has some things (like Spanish, in my case) "hard-coded" and some things left blank. I'm going to ask Tim about it to see if he knows. I just wonder if there's a short cut to my method. If you don't understand what I wrote and want clarification (haven't had coffee yet, so my brain is muddy), I can send you an example page.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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tovlo4801
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| Posted: June 15 2005 at 8:21am | IP Logged
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Gwen,
I used Homeschool Tracker last year. I thought it was waaay better than Homeschool Minder. They have a free version, but I went ahead and paid for the other version. I haven't done all of the things that you are looking for, but I think the system could do them. I really like the program.
There is a discussion group that you can get to from the site. You might be able to ask questions there of people more experienced with it than I am.
Also, I don't have any of the e-mails anymore, but there is a group that's putting together an organization system for Charlotte Mason homeschoolers. I think it's going to be out in the fall. Does anyone have the information on that? I think it's Simply CM, maybe?
Good Luck!
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Natalia
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That's it! The other day I came accross a discussion about this program on the Sonlight forums. I tried to find it again to post the name here and couldn't find it. It sounds great but it doesn't have a version for Macs 
Natalia
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Willa
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| Posted: June 15 2005 at 9:45am | IP Logged
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Gwen, almost every year, I make myself a Word template of some kind. One year I used a Sonlight type template to remind me to put what they call the "Core" -- living literature and history -- in first place, and center the other subjects around that. Another year, when I was away at the hospital, I had a simple checklist with very routine instructions that the kids could follow with little intervention. This year, for my 6th grader, I had a checklist divided by subject with blank spaces so I could write in page numbers and instructions for him. I had a similar one for my senior but he wrote in the blank spaces himself what he had done that day.
Sometimes I divide up by days of the week and sometimes I divide by subjects and have boxes to check off each time those subjects are worked on.
Almost all the things you mention can be done on Microsoft Word but I'm not sure how to explain them in writing : (. My Word has a grid function sort of like a spreadsheet which makes it easy to design forms -- you can cut and paste in URLS, recommended books etc.easily -- but before I knew how to do this, I'd just type things out.... it was so easy to just revise a bit and print out consecutive weeks, and if I saved a new copy every week, the copies also served as a record of what we had done through the term.
I've never used a computer homeschool planner because I get confused very easily, and hate having everything too set up for me, and find I can easily work with the word processor to tailor forms to what I want.
Here are some web sites I've found that give me ideas for forms to use on the computer:
Donna Young's Printables and Resources
Highland Heritage Academy-- go to "Forms I've Developed"
CHASE homeschool forms
These all have Microsoft Word forms to use on the computer and PDF forms to print out and write on by hand.
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AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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momwise
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Thanks all!
This has been so helpful. I checked out the Homeschool minder but it looks like way more than I want. I will probably check out the free version of Tracker. I did go into Word and made a weekly grid using Tables (yes! I figured it out!). I can use colored text for the weekdays to signify season/feasts, although I'd rather have a light backround color. I'll have to try to cut the grid down and have the bottom half of the page lined or blank; that's a good idea.
If you have time Willa and Janette, would you post your file for an example? Thanks.
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Gwen...wife for 30 years, mom of 7, grandma of 3.....
"If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life." JPII
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jdostalik
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WJFR wrote:
| This year, for my 6th grader, I had a checklist divided by subject with blank spaces so I could write in page numbers and instructions for him. I had a similar one for my senior but he wrote in the blank spaces himself what he had done that day. |
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Willa,
If it's not too much trouble and when you have a spare moment  , would you mind posting a sample of the checklist you made for your 6th grader? This is exactly what I was thinking would work for my 5th grader this fall...
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God Bless,
Jennifer in TX
wife to Bill, mom to six here on earth and eight in heaven.
Let the Little Ones Come
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Chari
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Gwen, it easy to get color.....just highlight the cell you want colored on your grid......and then click on format in the menu.......and then scroll to borders and shading
then click on shading
then pick any color...........and choosing "more colors" give you even more variety
play with it for awhile and you will see
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Chari...Take Up & Read
Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11
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Willa
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Jennifer and Gwen,
I'll try to figure out how to upload samples and get them out here in the next day or two.
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AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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cathhomeschool
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I'll upload samples too...
Willa, with the grids on Word, are you able to assign a font and point size in advance? My empty template squares always revert back to the default, which is too big a font for all I want to type on the page! I was hoping to find a method (maybe I'll have to change to Excel) that remembers font and point size so that all I have to do is type.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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Willa
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| Posted: June 19 2005 at 7:53am | IP Logged
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Janette, mine don't do that.... you can find "select all" in the Edit menu and then change it to the font and size you want. Maybe yours is set differently somehow -- here's where it would be great to be neighbors, so much harder to explain than just show!
BTW apparently I can't upload samples direct... I think perhaps only the moderator of the forum can do that, I better go look at the NetSmith's FAQs!
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AMDG
Willa
hsing boys ages 11, 14, almost 18 (+ 4 homeschool grads ages 20 to 27)
Take Up and Read
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cathhomeschool
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Thanks, Willa! My problem is that I don't want everything in the same font, so I can't select all! I guess I should be less picky.... and I think that I'm going to try playing with Excel.
Willa, you're a forum moderator, so you should be able to upload files and pics to any forum, not just your own. Can you poke around to see if you have the upload icons visible when you're in other forums besides this one? Not sure what the problem could be... 
Okay... Here's an example of my weekly plan: 2005-06-22_181857_Sample_Plans.doc
(The FIAR stuff in this one actually took us longer than a week to complete. When I anticipate this happening, I copy two weeks worth of "grid" into the file, and then just tack the FIAR stuff at the end. We check things off as we go.) In addition to what you see in the sample, I normally cut and paste into the end of document any additional worksheets, diagrams, etc. that I've found on the internet and want the kids to complete. In this case, I had some bee coloring pages, crossword puzzles, word finds and a diagram to label, but I cut all of that stuff out before uploading the file. This way, everything is together and I can print it all out at the same time.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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Marybeth
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I have a free site which I print a weekly school list and chore chart for my ds.
www.dltk-cards.com
You can customize them and then print! Easy and free which makes my dh very happy.
Hope this can help someone else.
Marybeth
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momwise
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| Posted: June 23 2005 at 10:27pm | IP Logged
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Janette,
Your example was very helpful. The calendar I set up has much larger squares and I think I could reduce them down and add text underneath like you did.
I got this free calendar program that can hold up to 8 folders of To Do notes in addition to a note space for each day on the calendar. I now have my movie list and books to order in those files, so they can be pasted back and forth from e-mails to library site, etc.
When we turn on the computer in the morning a large window pops up and lists all the appts./items in that day's schedule.
Thanks!
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Gwen...wife for 30 years, mom of 7, grandma of 3.....
"If you want equal justice for all and true freedom and lasting peace, then America, defend life." JPII
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mi4ol
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You may want to check out "HomeSchool Easy Records" at www.dataplus.biz/HER/ I'm going to try their program this year as I'm ready to stop using the 'teacher plan books'.
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God bless,
Debbie
Do whatever He tell you. John 2:5b
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mi4ol
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Well, belay the prior recommendation. I tried downloading the updated version. It was time consuming, the tutorial would only work online and wasn't compatible with our computer security protocols, and what I could view looked rather cumbersome and really over-planned for my needs. Time for Excel...
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God bless,
Debbie
Do whatever He tell you. John 2:5b
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Elizabeth
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Janette,
Your sample looks alot like mine. This year, I think I'm going to try to integrate household routines with daily school routines so that it's all in one big binder. I'm working on taking the prompts from Large Family Logistics and the prompts from Brave Writer and figuring out which days work best for us each thing and and then making a notebook tailored to me. I've done plans for both school and the house on the computer for as long as I've had a computer and I'm really glad I've saved all the different things I've tried. It's good to tinker with what's already been done and just tweak for changing circumstances. One thing is always certain: what worked last year won't exactly work this year. They just don't stop growing do they?
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Elizabeth Foss is no longer a member of this forum. Discussions now reflect the current management & are not necessarily expressions of her book, *Real Learning*, her current work, or her philosophy. (posted by E. Foss, Jan 2011)
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cathhomeschool
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Elizabeth wrote:
Janette,
Your sample looks alot like mine. |
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Ha! That's because you gave me the idea!  
Incorporating chores is a great idea too! Last year, we had our weekly unit study sheets plus a separate daily schedule that listed chores and general school subjects that should be covered. (No time slots, only sections: Before Breakfast, Before Lunch, After "school," etc.) This daily schedule was the oustide "cover" for their "current unit" 3 ring binder. Ideally, they would check things off on the daily list w/ an overhead transparency marker (so that they could erase and start over first thing next morning) and then look inside the binder at their weekly unit study sheets for specific "school" instructions. Well, sometimes this worked, but often they'd pull their unit study sheets out of the binder and completely forget the chore list. Then I'd have to ask or remind them of their duties, which totally defeated the point of having a chore list to begin with. Combining the two seems like the solution! I definitely refer back to old schedules when planning a new year. It's fun to see how things have changed... Actually, I hope to come full circle this year and have Fridays off (for field trips) like I did many moons ago. We'll see if I can swing it.
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Janette (4 boys - 22, 21, 15, 14)
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4Real Forums : Planning and Ordering our Days
Topic: Lesson Planning on the computer
